Glen Campbell dies aged 81

The musician passed away on Tuesday following a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.

Country singer Glen Campbell died on Tuesday following a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. The 81-year-old musician released his last studio album, appropriately titled Adiós, only last month -- although the recordings had been done back in 2012 and 2013 during a couple of sessions in Nashville that Campbell promptly declared being "his last", given his deteriorating health. This final period of his touring and recording life is documented in the 2014 film Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me.

Campbell started his career as a Wrecking Crew member, those highly-gifted session musicians that worked with the likes of the Beach Boys (Campbell played on Pet Sounds), Elvis Presley, Nancy Sinatra, and Merle Haggard. His debut solo album Big Bluegrass Special (with the Green River Boys) came out in 1962, and an impressive sixty more followed -- and that's talking about studio LPs alone.

Although he was primarily a country singer, his crossover to the pop charts with hits such as 'Wichita Lineman' and 'Gentle On My Mind' in the late '60s helped pave the way to the ever-growing country fusion that would become a standard in the following decade. He won ten Grammys and was nominated for a ton more.

Watch the trailer for Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me below; it's currently streaming on Netflix.